In their sixth game in the competition, Punjab Kings are the only undefeated team in this edition of the IPL. Returning home undefeated after five matches, last season’s runners-up are on a winning streak at the moment. Their batting unit has also been chasing some big scores, and the PCA New Stadium in New Chandigarh has been their den for high scores.
High on confidence to take on the table toppers, Lucknow Super Giants are looking for their third win of the season as despite losing to SRH in the last game, Chennai Super Kings have taken the lead on LSG’s poor run rate this season. The match begins at the PCA New Stadium in New Chandigarh and will mark a much-awaited clash between the two highest-paid players in the history of IPL.
PBKS have been prolific in IPL 2026 scoring a mammoth total of 254 runs, which is the highest team score so far in this edition of the competition. Despite all efforts, LSG could not finish the game without losing by a huge margin of 54 runs.
PBKS’s left-handed batsmen score at a fast pace, Rishabh Pant remains helpless in the middle overs.
Punjab Kings started the innings with their best combination of openers with Priyansh Arya, the aggressor, and Prabhsimran Singh, the ice-cool stabilizer in the batting lineup. However, Mohammed Shami struck once again in the very first over, dismissing in-form Prabhsimran for a golden duck.
However, the massacre was still to come. Priyansh Arya took charge of the attack and gave Cooper Connolly some time to get his eyes on the ball. When most teams struggle to score their runs, i.e. in the middle overs, both the left-handed batsmen started to pick up the pace.
Connolly and Priyansh Arya made important contributions in the huge partnership of 182 runs for the second wicket. While Connolly scored 87 runs at a strike rate of 189.13, Priyansh, on the other hand, scored 93 runs at a strike rate of 251.35.
Even after their dismissal, the attack continued as Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh made important contributions with a few cameos and gave PBKS their highest total in this season of IPL. They managed to hit 21 sixes in their innings, which is the most by any team in this IPL.
After huge score in the first innings, Punjab Kings defeated LSG batsmen.
Punjab Kings had scored such a big score that Lucknow Super Giants did not have much chance to win the match. Their aim was only to score as many runs as possible so that they could keep the run-rate under control.
Unlike the LSG fast bowlers, the Punjab Kings fast bowlers did not have a disappointing match, especially Vijaykumar Vishak and Marco Jansen who bowled impressive spells of 1/30 and 2/37 respectively. Despite the misfortune of losing some useful wickets, Arshdeep Singh also bowled well in the powerplay.
Yuzvendra Chahal also controlled the flow of runs in the middle overs and Rishabh Pant, despite his wide shots, was restricted from facing the experienced spinner. After a great start to the innings, he dismissed Mitchell Marsh. PBKS won by a margin of 54 runs and continued their unbeaten streak to top the table.
Definitely focus on adopting some positives- Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant said, “Look, it is difficult to point out any one area because the bowlers are performing well, but at the same time, there are areas of concern as well. But there were some positives for us to work on as well.”
When Rishabh Pant was asked what went wrong for the Super Giants, he said, “There was a glimpse of batting, which we talked about. Will definitely try to take some positives, but at the same time, as a team, we will do well in every match.”
LSG captain Rishabh Pant further revealed that the plan to have Ayush Badoni open the innings was to give him some freedom to hit the ball fearlessly at the top of the order. Pant revealed that the decision was not taken after PBKS’s huge score but it was a pre-planned decision taken by the LSG camp in the dressing room.
Pant showed great confidence in his team’s ability, “Definitely, we definitely believe in this team. But at the same time, when the opponent is playing well, like Punjab is playing right now, you have to give them credit for playing good cricket as well.”
“I think the left hand is getting better, but I got a new tattoo (injury on the right hand) today, so I think I’m looking forward to doing something again,” the LSG captain updated on his injury from the last game against RCB.
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